Replay: A D-FW Sports Talk With Tim Cowlishaw (4/17/14)

SportsDay

Tim Cowlishaw joins us at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, April 17, but ask your questions now and he will have them when he arrives. Thanks for your readership!

by SportsDayDFW4/10/2014 5:42:23 PM

We've got Stars playoff underway (they showed up in the 2nd period), Mavs playoffs set, Rangers with a weird win for a team that can't score. Let's get to it...

by Tim Cowlishaw4/17/2014 3:28:26 PM

As of today, how pleased are the Cowboys with their secondary? How will that affect their draft?

by Gizzy4/17/2014 3:28:38 PM

I don't think pleased would be a word you could use after the 2013 season. I'd say they are curious (to say the least) about how Mo Claiborne will play if he's healthy and they know they need to add a cornerback and a safety in some fashion.

by Tim Cowlishaw4/17/2014 3:29:25 PM

Why do I think of New York City or Los Angeles when I hear of Trump's interest in buying the Buffalo NFL team?

by Joe Psyhic4/17/2014 3:29:36 PM

You don't associate the Donald with good times in Buffalo? There's probably a good reason for that. But I'm not sure that's the most likely franchise to end up in LA. Jacksonville or a troubled St. Louis franchise (that's already been in LA once) make more sense.

by Tim Cowlishaw4/17/2014 3:30:42 PM

What scenario do you see would need to happen for the Cowboys to take an offensive player at #16?

by Louis4/17/2014 3:31:07 PM

Well it wouldn't be a running back, wide receiver or tight end. That leaves linemen and QBs, and even if Johnny Manziel slides, I don't see that happening -- although it would be very entertaining. If there was a guard they thought was just destined to be all-pro, I guess it could happen. But defense seems very likely the way to go in the first round this year.'

by Tim Cowlishaw4/17/2014 3:32:30 PM

Can Kari Lehtonen overcome another rough playoff start?

by Gary Trent4/17/2014 3:33:15 PM

That's a great question. I thought the team looked nervous and certainly he did as well in the first 5-6 minutes last night. Now that that is behind them and they are down, how do they respond? I will be surprised if Lehtonen doesn't -- for the most part -- play well in this series. If he doesn't, it gives this team something else to ponder this off-season (while waiting for the Jack Campbell Era to begin).

by Tim Cowlishaw4/17/2014 3:34:39 PM

Can you tell me which DLmen, if available, the Cowboys would take at #16, and if they are all gone, what they'd most likely do? Thanks.

by Stephen4/17/2014 3:35:01 PM

I don't think they know what they will do if Aaron Donald and Tim Jernigan and Anthony Barr are all gone at 16. I suspect they move up 2-3 spots if it looks like they have to in order to get a D-Linemen who's ready to start. They clearly need one. At least one.

by Tim Cowlishaw4/17/2014 3:35:50 PM

News about strategy the Cowboys will take with the approaching 2014 draft is hard to come by. Tight lips, no smiling Jerry, no "leaks" from the draft team. What is going on here? Do you hear anything?

by Guy Noir, Private Eye4/17/2014 3:36:36 PM

I hear that Will McClay is riding to the rescue to fix everything for the Cowboys. We shall see what happens.

by Tim Cowlishaw4/17/2014 3:36:53 PM

Do you worry that this lack of run support for Yu Darvish is going to pressure him to try and be perfect and get him off his game?

by Gary Trent4/17/2014 3:38:49 PM

I think Yu tries to be something close to perfect all the time and is always surprised when the other team scores. They don't score much. He will eventually get decent run support but, yes, I think it will frustrate him over the long haul if he doesn't. He signed here when the team was coming off back-to-back World Series. At some point, he may question that decision if the hitting and the winning never comes back.

by Tim Cowlishaw4/17/2014 3:40:15 PM

Do you hear any rumors of the Cowboys signing more free agents from the ones currently left on the bench or are they in a holding pattern?

by Old Cowboy Fan4/17/2014 3:40:25 PM

Once they sign their draft picks they won't have the money to sign free agents of note.

by Tim Cowlishaw4/17/2014 3:40:51 PM

Mavs-Spurs series: Who wins and how many games?

by Gary Trent4/17/2014 3:40:54 PM

It certainly looks like Spurs in 5, doesn't it? I am trying to figure out how the Mavericks perform better against this team than they did during the regular season. Maybe the noon start time throws off the Spurs crowd? I think the Mavs can score a lot of points on anybody, but they haven't been able to keep the Spurs from getting wide open threes whenever they need them. It's hard to just turn a dial and improve the defense of an older team for the playoffs.

by Tim Cowlishaw4/17/2014 3:42:39 PM

Can Brenden Dillon save the day?

by Mitch4/17/2014 3:43:28 PM

Never thought he would be so sorely missed. The Stars need to shore up their defense for sure but there's no word on when he's going to be back from his "lower body" injury. Dallas needs to score the first goal Friday, get the Ducks back on their heels a bit. But Anaheim is really good as we saw last night.

by Tim Cowlishaw4/17/2014 3:44:46 PM

Experience matters little if you make stupid penalties. Has Gonchar been a complete bust? I don't even see the guy he's supposed to be mentoring (Val) making strides.

by Sandra4/17/2014 3:44:54 PM

Complete. And with one year to go at another $5 million. I was among those standing and applauding Jim Nill for the signing. We were all wrong.

by Tim Cowlishaw4/17/2014 3:45:26 PM

If Tanner Scheppers has another bad outing today, what do you do with him?

by Dennis4/17/2014 3:45:33 PM

Scheppers is most likely to be headed back to the bullpen (where he was outstanding) when Matt Harrison arrives. Certainly Ross has outpitched him to this point by quite a wide margin. We just don't know how soon Harrison is going to jump back into the rotation. In each case, I will say Scheppers has mostly had one bad inning and a few good ones. But obviously you can't live with that for long.

by Tim Cowlishaw4/17/2014 3:46:41 PM

Of all the Game 1 losses the Stars could endure, was that the best scenario? Start slow and stupid but leave the ice feeling good about your last 20 minutes?

by Trey4/17/2014 3:47:00 PM

I don't know. I think you might feel better if you had a lead and you let it slip away. At least you knew you were there. When you come back from a big deficit, there's always a question of how much the favored home team leading 4-0 just let down. So I wouldn't make too much of this "big comeback'' angle. The Stars need to play better throughout their lineup. I thought Benn and Seguin were right there, close to being the best pair on the ice but the rest of the team wasn't in place. Will see what happens in Game 2.

by Tim Cowlishaw4/17/2014 3:48:36 PM

Do you think the Cowboys excel at self promotion during these player visits, or should we not care much who they bring in?

by Bruce4/17/2014 3:48:43 PM

Well, they're not recruiting these players so how much difference would good self-promotion make except for the guys that go completely undrafted and have to sign as free agents?

by Tim Cowlishaw4/17/2014 3:49:15 PM

The Stars fought back against the best team in hockey and almost pulled it off. What do they need to do to get that "W"?

by Abel Chavez4/17/2014 3:49:32 PM

Beyond the obvious -- scoring first -- I think coming out and being physical, killing a couple Ducks penalties to show they're capable of that, getting a few big saves from Lehtonen so he can deliver the message he's ready to step up...all that stuff works. A first-period goal from Cole or Chiasson or anybody not named Benn or Seguin would be huge.

by Tim Cowlishaw4/17/2014 3:50:47 PM

If you were making a prediction today, which two teams would you project as SuperBowl bound?

by N. A. Rutt4/17/2014 3:51:07 PM

Having given this absolutely no thought, just because it's hard to repeat, I would say San Francisco and Kansas City.

by Tim Cowlishaw4/17/2014 3:52:36 PM

Should you think the mavs should start Devin Harris instead of Calderon? Calderon can come off the bench against the spurs and hit a few threes.

by Abel Chavez4/17/2014 3:52:44 PM

I wouldn't demote Calderon, that can have an adverse effect. But you already have a situation where Harris plays a lot. I think he played 31 minutes against Phoenix Saturday, and last night he had 27 minutes while Calderon had 25. The way the Spurs move the ball -- even when Parker's not playing, we saw Paddy Mills do it a week ago -- Calderon has trouble not being a liability on defense. So Harris and Ellis will be out there together quite a bit. Of course the Mavs offense takes a slight hit when you go that way, so Carlisle just has to see which way the game is swinging.

by Tim Cowlishaw4/17/2014 3:54:32 PM

Going on 3 seasons now of incredibly bad baserunning, poor defense, and generally bad baseball IQ. At what point is wash held responsible for these deficiencies?

by Tug4/17/2014 3:54:52 PM

I think he still gets a lot of credit for those World Series runs, and people tend to ignore how this team performs. Now he thinks he gets criticized for his old-school ways and bunting all the time, but he really doesn't. But if it becomes clear this is not a playoff team, that will change.

by Tim Cowlishaw4/17/2014 3:56:10 PM

What makes the Stars a winner in Game 2 that they couldn't do in Game 1?

by Vinny4/17/2014 3:56:27 PM

Better play from the support players. Benn and Seguin can't play a heck of a lot better than they did in Game 1. On the other hand, Lehtonen can be a lot better than he was. You hate to put it all on the goalie, but his next good playoff game will be his first. So that needs to start in Game 2.

by Tim Cowlishaw4/17/2014 3:57:16 PM

Have the Mavericks already lost the Spurs series? Dirk doesn't look confident, so I can't imagine anyone else is.

by Ken4/17/2014 3:58:59 PM

Haha, I'm not sure how you have determined that Dirk doesn't look confident three days before the start of the series. Dirk always sounds very "realistic" after losses, but he will come out firing Sunday.

by Tim Cowlishaw4/17/2014 3:59:39 PM

JD had a tough spring, but do you think his tire patches around the infield prove he's still an effective executive?

by Wes4/17/2014 4:00:30 PM

The Profar news came down a week before the regular season opener. It's not like a lot of other GMs would have gone out and found Robinson Cano to come in to play second base for three months. Beltre didn't get injured until a week into the season. There are things you can put on Jon Daniels for sure, but not having a great alternative to a surprising injury to a 21-year-old second baseman isn't one of them.

by Tim Cowlishaw4/17/2014 4:01:44 PM

Still frustrated by the transfer rule and why it only applies to double plays. If there's nobody on and somebody hits a ground ball to Elvis, he throws him out at first, easy. Prince starts to throw the ball around and while taking it out of his glove, drops it. Under the transfer rule, the runner should now be safe. Stupid? yes! Just as stupid trying to turn two. Your take?